Ageing alone doesn’t cause poor sleep in elderly
Melbourne: It’s not just ageing that cause poor sleep in older adults, says a Chinese study with the largest-ever cohort of the very elderly.
Centenarians in China were 70 percent more likely to report good quality sleep than younger seniors age 65 to 79, according to Danan Gu, of Portland State University in Portland, Ore., and colleagues.
All other factors being equal, good sleep quality was 19 percent more common among respondents in their 80s and 38 percent more likely among those in their 90s, compared to those from age 65 to 79.
"These findings may support the argument that sleep problems at old and oldest-old ages likely arise from a variety of physiological and psychosocial factors rather than aging per se," ABC News quoted Gu`s group as saying.
Another possibility is that people change their perception of "acceptable" sleep with advancing age, they said.
The researchers analysed a nationally representative, population-based survey dataset from mainland China, which has the world`s largest population of nonagenarians and centenarians.
All other factors being equal, good sleep quality was 19 percent more common among respondents in their 80s and 38 percent more likely among those in their 90s, compared to those from age 65 to 79.
"These findings may support the argument that sleep problems at old and oldest-old ages likely arise from a variety of physiological and psychosocial factors rather than aging per se," ABC News quoted Gu`s group as saying.
Another possibility is that people change their perception of "acceptable" sleep with advancing age, they said.
The researchers analysed a nationally representative, population-based survey dataset from mainland China, which has the world`s largest population of nonagenarians and centenarians.
First Published: Monday, May 10, 2010, 00:00
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